The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1887-05-19
a Eat BLACK BOTTLE.
Filled TO the Cork with Five Dollar Tres
ury Notes.

| a Eat BLACK BOTTLE.
Filled to the Cork with Five Dollar Tres
| ury Notes.
There came to light in Macon yester
day New Years story that would fitly
adorn temperance lecture.
A bright little girl gave away what
was regarded as O pleasing secret. II
happened in this way: The Telegraph
man stumbled into millinery store YES,
terday and while waiting to get tho at.
tention of the lady who makes the female
population pretty, idly listened to con.
versation between a evidently
the wife of mechanic-aAd the millin-
or. The lady was looking at Il very
pretty hat for her little girl who stood
at her side with hungry eyes. The hat
was purchased, and the Telegraph man
mentally thought it looked like extrava-
gance for q mechanics family to throw
away four dollars and half on O little
girls hat.
AS this was the only purchase in which
the child seemed interested, she sided
up to where the Telegraph man was
standing and artlessly said: "We dot
lots er money now." The reporter here
mentally cursed himself for forgetting
to buy ticket for the last lottery draw.
ing.
"Where did you get it, sis?"
"Papa broke tn bottle?"
"Broke the bottle?"
"Essur; tn bottle was JUS as fuller
money as it TODD be, an we's 'ich now"
No true reporter can be idle when such
an item as this is in speaking distance,
and it was not more than few minutes
before the child's mother was per-
suadcd into telling the following story,
and yet she never dreamed that every
word of it was being jottod down by the
shorthand finger of memory upon the
thumb worn page Of a mental note book:
"I have passed through the ordeal of
drunkard's wife, and / am too happy
now to go over what and how much I
suffered. My husband drank heavily
and often half of his wages went for
drink. He kept large black bottle of
Whlskey all the time in the house, in
addition to what he drank in town. On
Christmas Eve night five years ago he
came home drunk, and as something had
gone, wrong with him, he was in the
worst kind Of humor. Our oldest boy
was III the crib very sick with the fever,
and there was not a cent of money in the
house to buy him the cheapest toy. My
husband had been away from home all
day and being drunk had forgotten all
about his Christmas. L put my husband
to bed and returned to the bed side of
my dying boy to watch and weep. 1t
was nearly y day when I saw nv
precious son sinking fast. Rushing out
of tho house called in a lady friend.
and then aroused my husband. The
sleep had somewhat sobered him, and
as he loved his boy devotedly, he was
soon bending over the little fellow, beg
ging him to say something to him.
"Ihe little fellow slowly turned his
eyes toward his father and said: I'm
going to die, papa, for see the anpels
beckoning me to come. This is Christ
mas morning, papa; please let me see
what Santa Claus put in my stocking.
My husband went to the mantle and
took down the little stocking. It was
empty He stood still and stared at it
for minute, and God only knows the
agony of his heart in that short timo.
lie turned to say, but our boy would
not have heard him had the poor mans
breaking heart allowed to speak. Our
boy was dead!
"The day before New Years my hus-
oand called for the bottle. May God
forgive my feelings at that minute, for 1
wished ne, too, was dead. L obeyed him
mechanically. TO my surprise, he took
tho bottle in his hands and, pouring the
whisky on the ground, said: Il will
drink no more; and the money I would
spend for whiskey we will put in this
BOTTLE and all enjoy the contents You
can imagine how happy [ was. He had
sworn OH many times before, but L knew
ne was IN earnest this time We made q
calculetlon, and estimated that whiskey
coSC hlm' taxing the past year as basis,
W on III average OF five dollars q week.
You see'a good deal of his money went
to pay court fines for drunkenness Weii
1t was decided to put five dollars week
III tne pottie Tor live years, come what
would. The time was out last New
Years day, and the big black bottle was
broken. Now figure up how many five
dollars that bottle containedr' '0
"Iwo hundred and sixty"
yes, or 81, 600 dollars. But this was
not all. We saved enough in that time
outside Of the bottl> 20 buy little
home"
"But are you not afraid in breaking
the bottle your husband will break his
resolution?"
ono; because we have started another
bottle bank" said the lady with a happy
smile.
The husband is q Macon mechanic,
well know and enjoys the respect and
esteem Of all. He says he never knew
how much genuine pleasure there was at
home with his loved ones until he got
sober enough to appreciate it, and to fill
instead of empty the fat black bottle.
"Oyer and Over Again"
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